


i'm dripping in gold so wash your sheets

by dogf1ght



Category: Cobra Starship, Fall Out Boy, Paramore, Twenty One Pilots
Genre: M/M, but his accent should be clear, meeting your partner's friends, punk and pastel babies, tyler has a mild speech affectation and i like it so i wrote him like that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-09
Updated: 2016-05-14
Packaged: 2018-06-07 03:38:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6783610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dogf1ght/pseuds/dogf1ght
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>josh loves tyler, tyler loves josh. the only thing that could come between them is, of course, their friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“soooo….” patrick hints, nudging tyler’s shoulder as the boy sifts through his backpack to find the note josh had given him earlier. it has his address on it, and he doesn’t want to lose it. “how’d it go with josh tonight?”

 

“was nice,” he begins, still trying to find the note. “seems aw’some, perfict even,” he bites his lip, thinking of other things to say to describe his date.

 

the lot of them sigh, some louder than others. they’ve all had their worries and doubts about tyler and his...taste in men.

 

“but do you  _ like _ him,” patrick asks. “for him…?”

 

tyler isn’t paying much attention now that he’s found the piece of paper. “whaddaya mean?”

 

“like,” melanie cuts in from where she is flipping through teen vogue on the carpeted floor. “do you like him for the fact that he’s actually a guy who genuinely loves you and who you want to date-”

 

debby finishes her sentence for her. “or this random gay guy who’s finally shown some kind of interest in you and, probably, gives great blow jobs.”

 

tyler purses his lips, now giving the conversation his full attention. he picks his friends carefully, and who he tells his deepest secrets too even more so. 

 

he knows his friends are right, knows their opinions are extremely important, even if they are harsh and bias against whoever steps through the door. 

 

he shakes his head, putting it between his legs, which are now pulled up to his chest, remembering the night of his and josh’s first time and the what he had told his friends the afternoon after.

 

_ “so like…” patrick tried to approach the subject ridiculously carefully. “you…...had sex.” _

 

_ tyler nodded, his whole body squished between jenna and hayley.  _

 

_ andy spoke next. “and you didn’t want to, and he forced you into it?  _

 

_ tyler immediately shook his head, refuting the statement. “no, no. ‘slutely not.” he scrunched his eyes, trying to think of the words.  _

 

_ “i jus’, i jus’ feel like we’re goin’ t’ fast, ya know?” he sighed for felt like the billionth time that gloomy day. “‘ve been on two dates ‘nd ‘m already callin’ ‘im daddy,” _

 

_ melanie pipes up from her spot at tyler’s desk, which is covered in pastel fabric of various colors and crumbs of sour-cream and onion potato chips. “oh, sweetie,” she remarked so softly only andy could make out her statement. “i’ve called men daddy  _ way _ before that.” _

 

_ tyler ran his fingers over his hair, something he always did when he was stressed. “‘m just worried that ‘m givin’ so much ta him-” _

 

_ patrick finished his words for him. “and you don’t know if he’ll provide the emotional stability that you-” _

 

_ “and us!” melanie piped up again, but loud enough that everyone could hear to her this time.   _

 

_ patrick nodded, agreeing. “and us,” he gestured to everyone in the room that wasn’t tyler. “know you need.” _

 

_ tyler looked up at debby then, who stared back at him with sad, pleading doe eyes. they’d been friends the longest, and she knew him better than anyone. “we just want you to be safe,” she told him, almost at a whisper. “just safe.” _

 

the conversation is on everyone’s minds now as they talk about the date.

 

tyler nods solemnly. he loves josh, he does.

 

but tyler is just worried for their relationship, just as everyone else in the room is. 

 

he’s been with other people, sure, but one of them was a girl and the other was just a sloppy handjob in his junior year of high school. he’s not what one would call...experienced...in any part of any sexual encounter, especially in drawing boundaries. 

  
and he's fucking terrified that josh will cross the line, and not allow tyler to step back. 


	2. Chapter 2

_ tyler’s face is illuminated by the heavy blue lighting in the aquarium. the tiny multi-colored fish swim around, with the occasional sea turtle or small shark gliding in front of their small window view into the large tank.  _

 

_ josh looks across his shoulder at tyler, heart pounding in his chest, mostly from nerves. “you look nice,” he says, tyler’s lips pulling into a small smile. josh looks up, trying to find where the blue light bulbs are on the flat, beige ceiling.. “in this light, i mean.” _

 

_ tyler’s smile widens. “thanks,” he replies shyly. “i really like aquariums, ‘nd ocean life, ‘nd stuff like ‘at.” _

 

_ josh smiles now, too. “that’s cool. always been more of a land-lover myself.” _ __   
  


_ tyler laughs lightly again, bumping his shoulder into josh’s. “was that ‘pposed ta be a joke?” his date nods. “‘t was terr’ble.” _

 

_ they’re both laughing now, a janitor glaring at them.  _

 

_ josh tries to quiet down, and tries not to laugh while he talks. “plus, electricity and water don’t exactly mix.” _

 

_ tyler’s wide smile remains. “at’s right, you’re an electrician. what’s ‘at like, anyway?” he stuffs his hands into his pockets, rocking back and forth on his feet. “‘ve never met one under th’ age ‘v, like, fifty.” _

 

_ josh snorts. “it’s fine. i like it, it keeps me busy and pays well. i can pretty much do whatever i want to, too, with piercings and tattoos, i mean. plus, it keeps me on my feet.” he stares at a particular starfish that’s resting at the bottom of the tank, and a another particular fish that looks like he’s bullying the dormant creature. “i’d hate to work in a cubicle all damn day.” _

 

_ “yeah, i c’n’t really imagine ya workin’ a corp’rate job,” tyler says, making note of josh’s spiked jacket, his stereotypically ripped jeans, his boots, his hair, and everything else about him.  _

 

_ josh barks out a laugh, and the old couple who stand staring at the jellyfish scowl at him in spite as their granddaughter poorly handles a horseshoe crab at some sort of show-and-tell elevated pool that has a suspicious lack of supervision.  _

 

“wait!” ashley yells, leaning forward with interest. “that’s how it happened? no way! that’s way too cute for one of  _ your _ dates! especially one of your first ones!”

 

josh rolls his eyes. “our first time wasn’t cute,” he winks, downing the last of his beer. 

 

“you fucked him!” hoodie more yells then asks. 

 

“hell yeah,” josh says.

 

pete groans, “was it his first? were  _ you _ his first?”

 

“Nope,” josh says, leaning back into the couch he’s sitting on. “but it sure as hell felt like it, though!”

 

this time, max is the one who groans. “damn, the pretty boys are always the tightest ones.”

 

hoodie almost cries laughing, knocking a few cans of various states of emptiness and beverage types off of their grimy coffee table as he puts his feet up onto it. “that ain’t true, baby, you’ve never been tight.” he then nuzzles his boyfriend’s cheek as the other boy tries to push him away.

 

“makes the most beautiful noises, too. moans better than any fucking porn star i’ve ever seen.” josh tilts his head back and he himself moans, thinking about their time together. “he’s so damn vanilla, though. he calls me daddy and we’re kind of gotten into choking a bit but damn, after fucking with dustin for so long. it’s just been a little weird trying to fuck, and just fuck.”

 

ashley guffaws at the memory. “man, i remember y’all comin’ back from fuckin’ and you both looked like you’d been mauled! i remember seeing your back when we went skinny dipping after one of your nightlong fuck sessions and i almost called nine-one-one.”

 

pete remembers that day vividly. “yeah! you screamed like a goddamn banshee-”

 

max cuts him off, trying to get back to josh describing their first date. “but dude, what else happened?”

 

josh’s eyebrows furrow together. “during what?”

 

max almost hits him upside the head. “the date, you motherfucker! the date with tyler!”

 

“oh, fuck, yeah! not much else, bro,” josh describes. “not much else. i went out for a smoke, thought i’d just leave him in there in the gift shop for a sec, but it turns out he wanted to stay with me. gave me a light, too, since i forgot my lighter at home.”

 

hoodie laughs, surprised that the pastel princess josh had described to him prior smoked cancer sticks. “your little baby smokes?”

 

josh shakes his head. “nah, didn’t smell like it and didn’t see one in his backpack-”

 

“you looked through it!” gabe yells, choosing now to make a comment. 

 

josh rolls his eyes. “no, it’s fucking clear, man. fucking  _ clear _ . and from what I saw, no cigarettes, dude.” 

 

gabe rolls his eyes, too, trying to match josh’s dramatics. but before gabe can say anything else, max tries to diffuse the situation.

 

“so, anyway,” he looks over at gabe to make sure he’s not close to pouncing. “when are we going to be able to meet him?”

 

josh shakes his head again, and rubs his hands together harshly (a nervous tick ashley recognizes easily). “i don’t know, bro...he’s so like..”

 

gabe interrupts him again, in the mood to get in an argument. “a pussy?”

 

josh laughs, not knowing what to say. “nah,” he licks his lips instinctively. “he’s just kind of anxious around new people...and loud people in general…”

 

hoodie swallows the drink he picked up god-knows-when. “so we’re your boyfriend’s worst nightmare?”

 

josh sighs and nods. “i just really like him, okay? and i don’t want to like, scare him away.”

 

“awwww!” pete exclaims, jumping up to rustle josh’s purple hair. “our little joshie has feelings now!”

 

ashley joins in, jabbing josh in the sides. “he’s finally all grown up! seems like just yesterday our little boy was stealing from the liquor store on sparkleberry street!”

 

pete shakes his head, grabbing ashley’s knee and shaking it lightly. “no, no, no, no, no, no! no, ashley! he’s our little man!”

 

the room is suddenly a chorus of laughter and jokes about josh’s miniscule moment of emotion. 

 

“our little man!”

 

“he’s an adult now!”

 

“soon he’ll be off, marrying some sweet girl-”

 

“maybe he’ll even have kids!”   
  


“oh dear me!”

 

“who will take of us in our old age!”

 

“i’m not ready for an empty nest!”

 

josh’s face, ears, and probably chest are bright red from embarrassment. he doesn’t try to stop it, he’s known them all for too long to think he now has any power. he just kicks at the trash that lays around shitty linoleum floor. 

 

he’s saved by his phone, which buzzes and lights up as he receives a text from tyler. 

 

**bby boy**

_ hey babe you still comin to meet every1? _

 

hoodie smirks, trying to look at josh’s phone and read his messages. “oh, you gonna go woo your boy?”

 

josh smacks him in the face in order to turn his head away from the screen.

 

“nah,” max cuts in, still under hoodie’s arm. “gonna go fuck him, wooing is for date night!”

 

everyone laughs, the ones closest to josh hitting him lightly all over his body.

 

josh tries to take a swipe at the intertwined pair that is hoodie and max, but doesn’t actually to hit him. “i got better things to do than argue with you guys, i’ll see you later.”

 

he grabs his jacket from the floor, dusting it off and pulling a few strands of blue hair off of the studs. 

 

ashley grabs his wrist as he goes through the door, slipping two condom packets between his fingers with a wink. he doesn’t refuse them, even though he knows he’s not going to have sex. 

 

“just in case,” she tells him, and he sighs at her and rolls his eyes as she wiggles her eyebrows.

 

josh replies just as he exits their grimy living room into their grimy kitchen.

 

_ yeah _

_ be there in _

_ fifteen minutes...maybe _

 

the summer ohio air drops at least five degrees when the sun goes down, and with the houses on his street reflecting the oranges and pinks and reds he decides to run up to his room and put on a warmer thicker sweater before driving over there. 

 

(plus, he’s planning on spending the night, and who wants to cuddle a boy who’s covered in spikes and smells like vomit.)

 

josh’s phone buzzes as soon as he starts his car. 

 

**bby boy**

_ alright b safe luv u :) _

 

josh answers, smiling as he puts his seatbelt on. 

 

_ love you too _

 

he continues smiling as he pulls out of the driveway, and through the whole thirteen minute drive to his boyfriend’s house.


	3. Chapter 3

josh, to say the least, feels extremely intimidated. he’s on a people-who-like-him to people-to-seem-like-they-want-to-kill-him ratio of about 1:5, if he includes himself in the first category and andy in the latter. (he’s looking thoroughly pissed off and stoic, which is different from his usual...less pissed off and stoic.)

 

and tyler’s not even here, gone upstairs with this patrick guy after he got a phone call he can only guess is something to do with beauty school or money or anything more important than saving his boyfriend from certain death. 

 

“so, josh,” melanie leans onto her crossed legs, which are covered by a long, heavily pleated skirt that reveals her lavender socks with lace trim as she spreads the skirt out around her. “what do you do, for a job...I mean.”

 

she rolls her fingers into a fist and places them under her chin, head cocked to the right in faux-charm.

 

“i, uh…” he begins, hands shaking slightly. “i’m an electrician.”

 

debby speaks up this time, baby blue nails tapping rhythmically just past the bottom hem of her matching overalls. “and do you live alone?”

 

josh answers carefully, trying to sound more confident. “no, i live with six of my friends.”

 

debby raises her left eyebrow to the middle of her forehead, lips pursed tightly together. “and do any of them do drugs?”

 

josh smirks. “i can’t confirm or deny that with confidence.”

 

now everyone is interested, and josh regret answering so sarcastically. debby leans forward, mimicking melanie’s stance. “have they ever done drugs with you?”

 

josh gulps. “no, i try to stay drug free for my job.”

 

“and alcohol free?”

 

“no”

 

hayley “mmmms,” pulling out her phone to type something into it. josh immediately tries to lessen the blow of his statement. “but, i try to stay below drunk.”

 

debby is the one to make an “mmm”ing sound now, but doesn’t break eye contact. 

 

hayley questions josh next.

 

“and do you share a room? six people is a lot in one house.” she asks, more curious than accusatory. 

 

andy coughs, trying to break the mood. it doesn’t work. 

 

“um, kind of? well, i’m supposed to, but she normally crashes on the couch. her half of the room is mostly storage locker, in her eyes.”

 

andy is suddenly interested in what josh has to say. “her?”

 

“uh, yeah.” josh answers. “ashley frangipane.”

 

jenna steers the conversation back to her own objections and concerns. “and who else?”

 

josh ticks his house mate off on his fingers. “pete wentz, gabe saporta, steven markowitz, joe trohman, and max schneider.” 

 

andy snorts. “hoods and max in the same house?” he waits for josh to nod before continuing. “damn, how do y’all get any sleep?”

 

the tension between them seems to have disappeared with andy’s snide remarks, and josh feels free to laugh. “there’s a reason we picked a house with at least one sound proof room!"

 

the girls, however, remain completely hardened in their expressions. 

 

debby takes to picking the nail polish off of her cuticles. “and how do you feel about sex?” she asks, almost too okay with the question.

 

josh tries not to let his stunned insides show on his face. “i, um, i think it should always be...safe…”

 

debby hums in response, which josh hopes means his answer was okay.

 

jenna cuts in next, bright blue eyes baring into josh’s soul. “and marriage?”

 

he doesn’t know how to answer that. “it’s not for...everyone…?” 

 

jenna “mmms” again, looking at her fingernails like women on real housewives of wherever do when they want to say something else but don’t have the energy to get into a fight. 

 

her head snaps up when she hears two pairs of footsteps coming down the carpeted stairs. it's tyler and the guy who followed him diligently up the stairs.

 

tyler sheepishly inserts himself on josh’s right, breaking jenna’s angry glare. “sorry, guys. jus' tax 'nd beauty school st'ff patrick hadda help me w'th,” tyler points to the other man, who raises his hand shyly as if to say,  _ that’s me. _

 

the room falls into an eerie silence, everyone looking everywhere but josh. patrick inhales loudly to put a crack in the silence before he speaks. 

 

he turns to josh, who tries to keep a neutral facial expression while he braces himself for another question. patrick places his clasped hands under his chin and cocks his head like melanie’s was a few minutes ago. his legs are crossed, right over left, and his right elbow is leaned against his right leg almost painfully. “when did you meet tyler?”

 

tyler answers it for him, knowing josh would probably not tell the story in a narrative that won’t piss off his friends. 

 

_ josh walked into the salon, looking around for his friend, but the ball of energy never crossed his line of sight.  _

 

_ he walked over to the secretary, who was tapping her bright green nails (that look more like claws) against the desk as she clicked around with a mouse with the other hand. josh cleared his throat to get her attention. _

 

_ it worked.  _

 

_ “hi, i’m looking for...um…brendon? urie? i was wondering if i could get a walk-in hair cut,” he tried not to stumble over his words as he spoke.  _

 

_ she squinted at him, as if she knew nothing of what he was talking about, looks down to flip through a book, then looks back up at him. _

 

_ “he’s not working today, could get you another stylist?” she looked at his haircut, as if assessing how much actual work it would take to get what he wanted done, done. “what do you need?” _

 

_ he gestured to the four-centimeter long hair on his sides, “i just need this shaved to one sixteenth of an inch,”  _

 

_ she thought for a moment, tapping on her chin with her index finger’s claw and then turned into the back room and yelled into the open door.  “joseph, comes give a shave!” _

 

_ he heard a perky “be there in a minute!” after the crinkling of what he assumed was food wrappers. he heard footsteps too, the snapping of a heel onto the floor a familiar sound (ashley had a particular style, and really liked a low chunky heel). _

 

melanie interrupts the story, using her hand to cut tyler off. “woah, woah, woah, how do you know all of this if it’s in josh’s point of view!?”

 

tyler sighs, still clutching josh’s hand. “bec'se he tol' me!”

 

she grunts, but doesn’t question any further. "so what else happened?"

 

“and then he cut my hair, i gave him my number…” josh looks into tyler’s beautiful eyes.

he smiles thin and wide. “'nd th' rest 's hist'ry.”


	4. Chapter 4

tyler’s friends are all gone by midnight, with them all needing to be at their jobs by nine the next morning. he asks josh to help him straighten out the couch cushions and blankets, and they quietly work in silence.

 

“so...duh ya wanna come..upstairs?” tyler asks, folding the last blanket and placing it across the middle pillow on the couch. the kitchen’s clean and the lights are off in everywhere but the hallway leading from the basement to tyler’s bedroom.

 

josh nods, wordlessly following the other boy up the carpeted stairs. 

 

he looks around the house, and if josh could describe it in any way, it would be “every single stereotypical midwestern christian household, but with more childhood drawings and no island in the kitchen.” there are crosses, bible verses, little cartoon angels, and at least fourteen jesus hanging around the kitchen and surrounding areas, with multiple throw pillows with cute little sayings like “home sweet home” and “may the lord bless this family” stitched into them. 

 

“ma’ room’s th’s way,” tyler tells him, guiding him down the hall. he can clearly distinguish tyler’s door from the rest of them, as the other doors are decorated with themes that josh can tell were designed by and for children, while tyler’s seems much more...him.    
  


he counts five other doors, one with sparkly letters one buys from michael’s (pink for “momma” and blue for “papa”), one entirely covered in camouflage duct tape with poorly drawn woodland animals, one covered in trucks and other vehicles, one so brightly neon pink it almost gives josh a headache, one plain one (a full bath with  _ three _ sinks, a standing shower, and a bathtub), and tyler’s door, which is completely white.

 

_ “you got any siblings?” josh asked, still folding the laundry he had done that day. tyler had given him his number, and they were having an almost-too-long conversation for two people who had just met that day. _

 

_ “yea’, bu’ all m’ oth’r siblins’ moved outta state th’ min’te th’ could,” tyler had told him. “‘m th’ only one wh’ stayed pas’ fifteen.” _

 

_ “why?” josh questioned, thinking they had all just gone to boarding school or catholic school or studied out of state. _

 

_ “i dunno,” josh could feel tyler’s shrug through the phone as the boy talked. his voice suddenly got shaky as he finished. “mad’y tol’ me that ma’ momma was abus’ve. but i nev’r saw ‘t, so i stayed t’ fin’sh beau’y school.” _

 

_ josh’s breath hitched in his throat. “and after that?” _

 

_ “was plannin’ on movin’ in wit’ ma’ friends, clos’r t’ th’ city ‘nd more salons ‘re near there,” tyler mumbled it, but josh still exhaled through his nose in relief. _

 

josh replays the phone call in his head as tyler opens his door to reveal a space so unbelievably his boyfriend that josh can’t think of anything else to describe with but just,  _ tyler _ .

 

to the surprise of both tyler and josh’s friends, josh has never seen the inside of tyler’s bedroom. the walls are a sweet pink, muted so it doesn’t give tyler headaches. the thin carpeting is stained from years of melanie’s hair dye experiments and debby’s nail polish and tyler’s makeup. an art desk and the adjacent cabinets overflow with projects and supplies, reflecting the same artsy mess as the floor.

 

tyler clears cosmetology and skin care books off his perfectly made bed bed, placing them carelessly on a bookshelf painted white but scuffed and nicked like hell. 

 

it’s a king, and easily fits both of them as they lay in silence and soak up each other’s body heat. 

 

josh sniffs the air. “it smells,” he sniffs again. “ridiculously nice in here.”

 

tyler huffs out a small laugh. “‘anks, ‘m like, cra’zy obses’ed wit’ sc’nted cand’les. like, ya c’n see th’t cab’net ov’r there,” he points to a beautifully painted cabinet with flower accents. “‘t’s filled wit’ cand’les. th’t shelf ov’r there,” he points to a long shelf above the desk. it’s four feet long and a foot deep, with candles of many different shapes and sizes and colors and scents. “‘s th’ ov’rflow.”

 

josh is dying from giggling at this point. “there’s gotta be at least...god, at least a hundred candles, then?”

 

tyler snorts. “a hun’red ‘nd tw’nty five, act’ally.”

 

josh snorts “that has to be the nerdiest thing i’ve ever heard in my entire life, i swear to god,”

 

tyler tries to hit him jokingly, but josh grabs both his wrists limply to make him stop. he then pulls their bodies closer together, so close that their noses bump lightly. 

 

the mood shifts entirely after that, from playful, to not lustful nor sexy, but something else. like intimacy josh had never bothered to fully experience before this night.

 

“so….” tyler waits for josh’s attention to focus back on him before he continues. “how w’re they t’ ya?”

 

josh hums while he thinks of a response. “okay, i guess. i felt like i was in a job interview though.” he pauses to smooth out tyler’s right eyebrows with his thumb.  “are jenna’s eyes always that scary?”

 

tyler laughs. “nah...th’y’re jus’, all supah’ prot’ct’ve. ‘spec’lly jenna”

 

“any reason?” josh asks. 

 

tyler sighs. “i g’ss, ’ve jus’, ‘ike, a bad tas’e ‘n boyfr’nds.”

 

“i hope i’m the the exception,” josh remarks with a smile.

  
tyler grins so wide josh thinks tyler is practically glowing. “yea’,” he affirms softly. “ya def’nitely are.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yay!! another thing i actually spent time on and finished!!! *skateboards into the sun*

**Author's Note:**

> please tell me if this doesn't make sense at all as a fic!! i'm trying to work on writing longer fics and constructive criticism is welcome here or on my tumblr @ andimsatan


End file.
